TEHRAN/PASAY CITY, Philippines -- Iran survived a five-set saga against Serbia to progress to the quarterfinals of the 2025 FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship in the Philippines. 
In the last eighth-final in Pasay City on Tuesday, the Asian squad came back from a set down twice during the game to dominate the tie-breaker and celebrate victorious. 
Iran will take on Czechia in one of the two quarterfinal matches set to take place on Thursday.
Iran’s veteran libero Muhammadreza Hazratpour produced a commanding performance, repeatedly denying Serbia with sharp reads and precise receptions. Despite a costly error in the third set, Hazratpour recovered quickly and played a key role in the remaining frames.
Serbia started breaking away in the score after 10-10 in the first set, and the gap went as wide as five points at 19-14 before Iran attempted a comeback. 
At the end of the set, they denied two Serbian set points to get back within one, but on the third, outside hitter Pavle Peric finished it off with a pulverizing high-flying pipe shot. 
Set two stayed competitive through 17-17, and this time it was Iran who broke away, dominated the money time, and took the set by a six-point margin to level the match. 
The third set was a real rollercoaster, with the lead changing hands several times. Even after a 20-15 Serbian advantage, Iran found a way to level up and reach the first set point.
 The European team reacted with three in a row, crowned by middle blocker Aleksandar Stefanovic’s blistering ace that closed the set in overtime. The teams kept the heat up in set four as well. 
At a critical moment with Serbia attempting to level the score at 23-23, Hazratpour’s well-timed positioning and dig kept the point alive, allowing Iran to close out the set and seize momentum.
Iran’s swinging effort proved more fruitful in the end as they persevered through the dramatic epilog to level again, with outside hitter and captain Morteza Sharifi nailing the set winner. 
The Asians stormed the tie-breaker on a 4-1 run and never looked back to get the job done with a 3-2 (23-25, 25-19, 24-26, 25-22, 15-9) victory.
Iran’s more prolific offense produced 67 spike kills against 60 from Serbia and made the biggest difference toward the outcome. They also outdid the opponents in serving, by 5-4 in aces, and in precision, by 24-27 in unforced errors. 
Morteza put up three kill blocks and fired two aces, while swinging at a 56% success rate, to lead the team’s scorers together with opposite Ali Hajipour on 23 points apiece. 
The latter put away an ace and spiked at a 52% success rate. 20-year-old outside hitter Ali Haghparast, who subbed in for Pourya Khanzadeh, contributed another 18 points, while middle blocker Muhammad Valizadeh chipped in with another 10, including four blocks.
“The game was so tough! Serbia did a great job and pushed until the end, but we were here to win,” Sharifi told VBTV. “I would like to thank all the players, because with their help I was able to show a good performance. We were together and believed that we could win this match.”
Serbia matched Iran in blocking, with 13 stuffs apiece. 
Their opposite, Drazen Luburic, produced a match-high 27 points. Outside hitter Miran Kujundzic added another 17. Middle blocker Aleksandar Nedeljkovic and outside hitter Pavle Peric also reached double digits with 13 and 12 points, respectively.
“In the fourth set, we had a lot of chances to close the match. It was in our hands, but we were not able to kill. In such games, a couple of balls can change a lot,” commented Serbia’s Romanian head coach Gheorghe Cretu. 
“It hasn’t been such a great year, 
but we restarted and, at the beginning, we suffered a lot. These were the first four games together for the guys who played at this tournament. I am happy that they kept together really strong and they showed that we are able to rebuild and have a really strong group.”